Track Club Is Fun On The Run For Kids

Monday

Jun 28, 1999 at 12:01 AM

Ohe pack of 20 or so runners rounding the bend at the College of Wooster track on a Tuesday evening would never be mistaken for an Olympic training team.

These are noisy and high-spirited kids, from short 9-year-olds to a few rangy eighth-graders. Some wear running gear; some are just running in their jeans and sneakers. Their form is all over the map, from clipped and tight to flopping arms and legs.

One thing is clear: These kids are having fun. As they take their warm-up lap, their laughter and chatter stand in contrast to the quiet determination of a few scattered adults also out to get exercise this evening.

The practices of the Wayne County Track Club would warm the heart of anyone concerned about children's declining health and fitness. Twice a week, for an hour each night, these children gather, warm up, then run sprints, try field events, and run some more.

Sprinkled throughout the season, from April into July, are local and regional meets offering competition at different levels.

The track club, an offering of the Wooster Parks and Recreation Department, is being run this year by Chuck Kammer and Beth Driscoll. The two volunteers began helping with the club when their kids joined it. Runners themselves, the two were married this past year.

"It's so much fun to interact with the kids. I'm a school teacher, so I'm around kids all day, but this is a different kind of interaction," says Driscoll, who is petite enough to get lost in a swarm of 11- and 12-year-olds.

Kammer agrees. A professor of religious studies at the college, he says he spend his days "interacting in a cerebral way" with 18- to 21-year-olds. The track club is satisfying, he says, because of the kids' playfulness.

In its second decade now, the club is growing, jumping from 60 kids last year to 90 this year.

MEMBERS OF the Wayne County Track Club round the corner during practice on the College of Wooster track on a recent summer evening. Wendy Cassidy photo

The range of abilities includes a number of hot-shots who are sure to go on to successful middle school and high school track seasons.

R.D. Goodright of Wooster, for one, is entering eighth grade in the fall. Long-legged and lean, he makes running fast look easy. He already has run a mile in 4:50; five miles in 29:54.

"He's just blessed, and I think he knows that," says Doug Bennett, a Wooster High School band staff member who also volunteers with the track club.

Betsy Williston, a track club veteran who will be going into ninth grade, is another standout with district records at the junior high level.

Just as satisfying as watching the meet champions, says Driscoll, is watching children who are new to running -- and likely new to any sport -- discover their abilities.

"We start with a lot of gentle prodding and pushing," says Kammer. When practices began in April, a fair number of the youngest runners would start the warm-up lap and only make it halfway around, he says.

"So we started doing the warm-up lap with them and chatting, and they tend to forget they're running," he says.

"The progress they make is really heartening to see," says Driscoll. The younger girls, especially, begin to see themselves in a whole new light: as athletes.

Kammer likes to watch that growing self-confidence, something all children need.

"You see a kind of determination that develops that I suspect spills over into other parts of their lives," he says. "And I think they build a greater tolerance for a little bit of physical discomfort."

The two coaches keep the focus on individual improvement and set the tone for a supportive environment.

"We emphasize over and over that it's not how you do compared to someone else, it's how you do compared to yourself," says Driscoll. "We always see progress in everyone. They really do feel a sense of accomplishment as the season goes by."

Catherine Randall, 9, can attest to that. The bubbly, freckle-faced little girl was new to running and didn't even have any friends in the club when she started this year.

Now she tells you how she has learned to relax her fists when she runs the 100 meter. She likes getting ribbons and medals at the track meets, she says, "and I just love to run."

The group works out together, the older kids mixed in with the younger ones. "The older kids provide a wonderful model for the younger ones, and I think they enjoy that," says Driscoll.

During a timed mile at a recent practice, Goodright and a couple of his pals dashed in with times in the six-minute range. After they caught their breath, Goodright turned around to where the other runners were coming in.

"Let's go run some people in," he called out, then ran alongside some of the younger runners with words of encouragement.

Kammer says he works to keep the atmosphere light, not intense like some youth team sports can be. On hot days, he may hold a water-gun relay.

Other games have the kids running, say, for colored markers, games that get them "zipping all around and they don't even know they're running."

One long-term goal is that they see that this can be a sport they can take with them into adulthood, Driscoll notes.

Adrean Fischer of Wooster, a petite 10-year-old, is in her second year of running track and has enthusiam to spare.

"It's fun to be active," she says. "An athlete is what I want to be when I grow up."

Two years of the track club have taught her "to not just sit in front of the T.V. or the computer. It's better to go out for a bike ride or to play."

She has met with success, too.

"Last year I only qualified for the state meet in one event. This year I qualified in every one I did," she says proudly.